Thiess awarded $160m BHP contract

Thiess has been awarded a $160 million contract with BHP Billiton Nickel West to undertake operations at the Rocky’s Reward nickel mine at Leinster, approximately 400 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

The Rocky’s Reward mine is an open-pit operation within Nickel West’s Leinster mine complex. Thiess commenced the 30-month contract at the brownfield operation in August 2015.

“We are continuing to tender for more mining work and expect further contracts to be awarded to the Group in the near future,” Marcelino said.

“Following on from Thiess’s recent entry into Chile’s copper market, the Rocky’s Reward nickel project provides further diversification by both commodity and geography.”

Thiess Managing Director Michael Wright said the Rocky’s Reward contract, which marks the companies re-entry into the Goldfields region of Western Australia, “highlights our innovative, technical approach to mining and our commitment to aligning with our client’s objectives”.

“It builds on the partnership we first established with BHP Billiton Nickel West at the nearby Mt Keith operations in 2003,” Mr Wright said.

A member of the BHP Billiton group, Nickel West is a fully integrated nickel business comprising the Mt Keith, Cliffs and Leinster mines, the Kalgoorlie smelter, the Kambalda concentrator and the Kwinana refinery.